Dear:

Hon. Jay Weatherill Premier of South Australia 
Hon. Jennifer Rankine, Minister of Education
Hon. Michael Atkinson MP South Australia

Hon. Jay Weatherill, Premier of South Australia 
Hon. Jennifer Rankine, Minister of Education
Hon. Michael Atkinson, Speaker of the South Australian Parliament 

As members of the Kurdish community around the World, we would like to thank you for the daring and courageous view that you expressed on February 7 on radio ABC, Adelaide, in support of the three Kurdish women murdered in Paris. Your perspective and attitude towards the Kurdish cause and the Kurdish community in Australia is highly appreciated by the Kurdish community. As Australians and as members of the Australian Labor Party, you are well-known for your strong stance on human rights and freedom.
Sakina Cansız, the most prominent of them, was a Kurdish activist since the 1980s. She was detained in the 1980s at one of the Turkish state prisons where she was tortured and her breast brutally cut off. Despite that, Sakina continued to lead the Kurdish movement. Her resistance made her a legend among the Kurds.

We would like to take advantage of this occasion to express our view of the tragedy referred to last month. We believe that the three women that were killed in Paris early on January 7, 2013 were not terrorists, but rather Kurdish activists.

Activism among Kurdish women is well-known throughout history and well-documented. Turkish sociologist Nuhket Sirman of Istanbul’s Bosporus University is an expert on the Kurdish question in Turkey. She says that women have become a formidable force within Turkey’s pro-Kurdish movement. 
Leyla Soylemez was a young French-Kurdish activist who dedicated her life to the Kurdish cause and the emancipation of women.

Fidan Dogan, also a Kurdish activist, worked at the Kurdish Information Cente in Paris and represented the Brussels-based Kurdish National Congress in France. It was reported that she had close connections with the French government, including direct contact with French President Francois Hollande, a fact that he personally acknowledged.

We strongly believe the reason behind the murder of these three remarkable women was their active role in the Kurdish national movement. Their visible actions made them targets of organized terrorist groups. Indeed, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has suggested that the murders were done “to derail the current negotiations” between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) led by Abdullah Ocalan.

It is true that the PKK has used violence in the past to promote its cause. In Turkey, the Kurds are not only deprived of their national, cultural and linguistic rights, but their existence as a people is continually under threat. In such circumstances we believe that international law warrants armed struggle as a legitimate and reasonable means by which an oppressed people group may defend itself. In this context we are reminded of the American War for Independence against the British for these same rights. This is precisely what the PKK is doing on behalf of the twenty million resident Kurds in Turkey.
Finally, we would like to address those who accuse the Kurdish people of terrorism. Who is a terrorist? Is the terrorist the one that fights for the freedom of his nation, a right protected by the UN Charter and the International Bill of Human Rights? Or is the terrorist the one that murders the Kurdish activist in the world’s capital for peace and liberty, Paris?
Please accept our sincere gratitude for your stand and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support of human rights and freedom.
Sincerely, 

Represent of Kurdish community around the World
Dr.Sherko Kirmanj
Kazhal Nuri